1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to skate wheels and, more particularly, to single bearing skate wheels for use, for example, with roller skates, skate boards, inline skates and the like. Specifically, the present invention relates to an improved single bearing core assembly for inline skate wheels.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Skate wheels have embodied a wide variety of designs and configurations over the years and have been utilized in numerous different applications such as roller skates, skate boards, inline skates, street hockey skates and the like. Single bearing skate wheels have been taught in early applications of wheels for roller skates and the like, as illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,469,344; 1,743,757; 1,983,869 and 2,291,600, and Austrian Patent No. 28,883. These roller skate wheels were typically made from metal components having metal or hard rubber tire portions. The bearing members utilized in these references are not individual, self-contained units which are replaceable, but are integral to the wheel assembly itself.
Further evolution and design modifications of the roller skate wheel are illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,377,855; 4,130,320 and 4,603,025. All of these patents illustrate single bearing skate wheels having the center line of the bearing offset from the center line of the wheel member itself.
As the demands on the skate wheel became more severe and functionally more competitive, as in the form of inline skates, racing roller skates and the like, light weight plastic cores, for example of nylon, were designed to support the bearing and axle assembly. Given the fact that the materials of the skate wheel were becoming lighter yet the demands on the skates were becoming greater, wheel constructions were devised which utilized pairs of bearing members in each roller wheel, for example, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,219,240. In such designs, the two bearing members generally support the axle and include a spacer between the bearings allowing the axle bolt to be tightened without inhibiting wheel rotation. This can be accomplished because the bearing spacer is pressed against the inner bearing races permitting the wheel to freely role. Each bearing used in such two bearing member designs are typically capable of individually handling the thrust and axial loads encountered during normal skate use, thereby providing loading capabilities which far exceed the loads produced when the wheels are actually used for skating. Thus, the state of the art two-bearing skate wheel core design is greatly over engineered for roller skate or inline skate purposes. However, the single-bearing designs of today have been inadequate in providing a roller wheel which is light-weight yet rugged. Consequently, and particularly in the inline roller skate industry, there is a need for an inexpensive light-weight skate wheel having modular parts, including self-contained, replaceable bearings, which is also rugged, low in roller resistance so that it allows maximum speed.